I have been thinking of this for a while…has anyone ever thought about renting space to brew in? I would figure finding some small warehouse nearby and renting 100 or less square feet of it (for a couple bucks a foot per year) if it had water and electricity and a roll up door…
I have a small house, and it would be worth a couple hundred bucks a year and a few hundred bucks to wall it off so I don’t have to pack it all up everytime I want to brew.
Has anyone ever done this?
I have some friends who just got a space for their gear and they brew there, and there was a licensed brewery operating out of an activspace in Seattle for a while, although they got kicked out after the landlord read about them in the paper. There is nothing legally problematic about doing it as long as you do your fermenting at home, but if you plan to ferment there there could be.
This seems to be the nano craze (setting up in a storage space). Tom, what was the name of that particular nanobrewery? I thought I had read about a couple different examples of storage space nanobreweries but now I’m thinking maybe I just read about this nanobrewery several times.
rsandel, have a friend with a garage? offer to help them clean their garage and maybe throw in some brew.
The one that got shut down was Gilligan’s Brewing.
http://www.gilligansbrewingcompany.com/
I heard he was looking for a new space, but then I also heard that he was selling off his equipment so i don’t really know the deal.
Another Seattle place, Schooner Exact, also started in an activspace but has since moved IIRC.
I hadn’t thought about the fermentation thing…is the law that we can brew for personal consumption, or that we can brew at home for personal consumption? I would figure it wouldn’t matter where you fermented if you didn’t sell any.
How do home brew clubs and home brew stores brew at a different location than a home?
I am not a nano brewery, I am a homebrewer…I just want to brew someplace other than at my house.
Anyway, a self storage wouldn’t work because they don’t supply water and some maybe not electricity…and they overcharge for their space. Commercial warehouse space rents anywhere from 50 cents to 5 bucks a square foot (triple net per year)…if I would be looking to find 100 square foot that some company wasn’t using.
There was an article either in zymurgy or All About Beer on Nano breweries like what I was proposing…but I have no intention on doing any serious volume…just regular old homebrewer volume. I was just wondering if anyone was thinking of doing the same?
I know this for a fact that you will NOT get federal brewers notice (commercial license) unless in the lease agreement (when you lease) it is explicitly written that you will be brewing beer in there.
That’s cool, I only know what I’ve been told. It’s possible that the landlord knew they’d be brewing but didn’t know it would be a commercial operation. That’s all I’ve got, but I’ll see what i can find out.
Here’s what I’ve got, third hand now . . .
“Yes, they kicked 'em out. I had only heard of the details second-hand; Activspace doesn’t allow alcohol production, didn’t like the bottleneck on the Burke-Gilman that they caused, and something about sucking up power & water utility.”
I’m not sure if I understand but volume doesn’t matter, if you’re hoping to sell even a cup full you’re a commercial brewery. If you just want to brew and ferment you personal homebrew I think that would only be regulated by the owner of the space you rent.
Why am I getting flashes of Cheech and Chong movies… ;D
I own a small brewery and that is where I “homebrew” now. It was really nice to get all the equipment out of the house. Now, I don;t know what kind of money you have but if you really want to make it worth it build a wet area with a floor drain. Another great investment is a commercial great tankless “instant” hot water heater. Nothing beats instant 170 degree dough-in water. 
I am not proposing selling any, just not homebrewing at “home”. I just want to have some space to work that is clean and warm. ManCave removed from the premises.
Yeah, I didn’t think you were going pro - thats a whole ‘nother story (what with TTB, Licensing, Health and Building depts, ad nauseum). I’m just sayin’ - build you a small wet area if you can afford it. Makes life much easier. Instant hot water is a great investment too.
yeah, I hear you…I just need space…otherwise I am outdoors (which is a wet area, and a cold area…no drain needed) and have to spend extra time and effort during set up and tear down. I barely have the space to store my brewstuff, let alone run it.
Not sure where you live, but there may be the option of a brew on premise business nearby. Just a thought.